WEBVTT 00:00:02.580 --> 00:00:07.720 - Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons Podcast. 00:00:07.720 --> 00:00:09.240 This is where you can find audio 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:11.480 from Sunday morning messages and more. 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:12.780 Make sure you're subscribed 00:00:12.780 --> 00:00:14.680 so that you don't miss future episodes 00:00:14.680 --> 00:00:15.920 and thanks for listening. 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:23.400 - If you have your Bibles and I hope you do, 00:00:23.400 --> 00:00:28.240 I wanna invite you to join us in Genesis chapter 29. 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:31.680 So we are back in our Genesis series 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:33.040 and some of you have started coming here 00:00:33.040 --> 00:00:36.240 since we started our Genesis series. 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:38.680 We started our study in Genesis walking through that 00:00:38.680 --> 00:00:41.880 in March of 2023. 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:44.880 We've taken some breaks to do a Christmas series this summer 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:46.960 with what we did, different things back and forth 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:50.160 as we move around, but committed to walking through 00:00:50.160 --> 00:00:53.760 every verse, every word of Genesis. 00:00:53.760 --> 00:00:57.080 And so this is message 34 as we're jumping back in here 00:00:57.080 --> 00:00:59.320 in Genesis chapter 29. 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:00.560 So a couple of things are happening. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:05.440 I wanna encourage prayers for me on this Tuesday. 00:01:05.440 --> 00:01:08.320 Three years ago, I went to the eye doctor 00:01:08.320 --> 00:01:09.540 and I got some news. 00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:12.780 So like six years ago, I got glasses for the first time. 00:01:12.780 --> 00:01:15.560 I'll never forget, I was laying in bed one night 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:18.380 and I was reading one of the most important things 00:01:18.380 --> 00:01:20.240 at the time for me to read. 00:01:20.240 --> 00:01:23.740 And I realized that I could no longer read the scores 00:01:23.740 --> 00:01:27.220 on the bottom of the screen on ESPN. 00:01:27.220 --> 00:01:29.220 I told Aaron, this is unacceptable. 00:01:29.220 --> 00:01:31.360 So I went to the eye doctor and I got glasses. 00:01:31.360 --> 00:01:34.420 The day that I got glasses, Grayson and I were traveling 00:01:34.420 --> 00:01:38.840 to Atlanta for his 13th birthday to watch the Boston Celtics 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:40.820 play the Atlanta Hawks. 00:01:40.820 --> 00:01:44.620 And so we drove up there and I realized that billboards 00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:47.700 can be read when you can see clearly, right? 00:01:47.700 --> 00:01:48.780 And so I did that. 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:50.940 So three years ago, I was going to the doctor 00:01:50.940 --> 00:01:52.580 and every time you gotta get new glasses, 00:01:52.580 --> 00:01:54.500 get new glasses, get new glasses. 00:01:54.500 --> 00:01:57.700 And I go three years ago and the eye doctor looks at me 00:01:57.700 --> 00:01:59.420 and he makes this statement. 00:01:59.420 --> 00:02:02.340 This will probably be your last pair of glasses 00:02:02.340 --> 00:02:05.940 because your next pair will be bifocals. 00:02:05.940 --> 00:02:09.620 And I just disagreed with that statement. 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:12.940 So I haven't been back in three years. 00:02:12.940 --> 00:02:17.380 And I've now hit the point where in order to read 00:02:17.380 --> 00:02:22.380 instructions, because I do believe counter to the stereotype 00:02:23.060 --> 00:02:28.060 that everyone, men and women, should read instructions. 00:02:28.060 --> 00:02:30.300 And I was making some grits one morning. 00:02:30.300 --> 00:02:35.260 And I pulled out my phone and took a picture 00:02:35.260 --> 00:02:38.100 and zoomed in so that I could get the measurements right. 00:02:38.100 --> 00:02:40.540 As I got ready, I was like, all right, now is the time. 00:02:40.540 --> 00:02:44.140 So just pray that it's an okay day, you know, 00:02:44.140 --> 00:02:47.000 as we prepare to get bifocals, 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:49.900 but at least I'll be able to see. 00:02:49.900 --> 00:02:52.900 Also this Tuesday, and this has nothing to do with anything, 00:02:52.900 --> 00:02:55.300 just y'all know me and what I do, right? 00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:56.900 This Tuesday, September the 10th, 00:02:56.900 --> 00:02:59.060 I don't know if you're aware of this or not, 00:02:59.060 --> 00:03:02.060 but what is approaching is a presidential election. 00:03:02.060 --> 00:03:03.620 Did y'all know that was happening? 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:06.020 Is there anybody that's caught off guard by that? 00:03:06.020 --> 00:03:08.620 And this Tuesday, September 10th, 00:03:08.620 --> 00:03:13.100 there will be another presidential debate. 00:03:13.100 --> 00:03:15.900 Now here's what we're not here to do this morning, all right? 00:03:15.900 --> 00:03:19.780 I'm not here to discuss politics with you, all right? 00:03:19.780 --> 00:03:24.780 But what I would like to talk about is this process, 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:28.140 really what will be happening on that night 00:03:28.140 --> 00:03:31.540 as I feel like it's very important for our message 00:03:31.540 --> 00:03:33.900 and where I feel led for us to go this morning. 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:37.620 If you watch the debate, 00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:40.620 what you will find are two individuals 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:43.580 that are going to be making an appeal 00:03:43.580 --> 00:03:47.140 for you to vote for them. 00:03:48.220 --> 00:03:50.180 They may have different strategies 00:03:50.180 --> 00:03:53.380 about how they will appeal to you. 00:03:53.380 --> 00:03:58.100 They may appeal to you or try by sharing their plan 00:03:58.100 --> 00:03:59.860 and their strategy with you. 00:03:59.860 --> 00:04:03.900 They may appeal to you by pointing out 00:04:03.900 --> 00:04:08.900 their leadership strengths and their capabilities. 00:04:08.900 --> 00:04:13.580 They may appeal to you by pointing out the flaws 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:18.580 of the other strategy, plan, or leadership abilities, 00:04:18.580 --> 00:04:21.140 the lack of those. 00:04:21.140 --> 00:04:26.140 Either way, their goal, their strategy will be for you 00:04:26.140 --> 00:04:33.260 as a voter to choose one of them, 00:04:33.260 --> 00:04:39.240 not just as the next president, but as your leader. 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:42.140 It's really interesting. 00:04:42.140 --> 00:04:46.180 Sam was here last week, and when you talk to people 00:04:46.180 --> 00:04:50.540 who speak of freedom in the United States, 00:04:50.540 --> 00:04:54.300 it's hard for us, especially if this is the only 00:04:54.300 --> 00:04:58.540 world culture country that you've lived in here in the US, 00:04:58.540 --> 00:05:01.700 is that you and I, we live in a culture and a country 00:05:01.700 --> 00:05:05.660 that says that you and I get to continually choose 00:05:05.660 --> 00:05:07.300 who leads us. 00:05:08.220 --> 00:05:13.220 And then for by default, who has authority in your life? 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:18.460 If you don't like the way that the country is going, 00:05:18.460 --> 00:05:20.500 then you can elect a new president. 00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:23.420 If you don't like the way that your town or your city 00:05:23.420 --> 00:05:26.660 is going, then you can elect a new mayor. 00:05:26.660 --> 00:05:30.460 If you do not like the authority within your job, 00:05:30.460 --> 00:05:32.520 then you can go and find a new job. 00:05:32.520 --> 00:05:35.580 Something that hits a little home for us 00:05:35.580 --> 00:05:37.780 where we live in our neighborhood right now. 00:05:38.780 --> 00:05:40.980 If you don't like the authority of your HOA, 00:05:40.980 --> 00:05:45.580 well, there's nothing you can do about that, right? 00:05:45.580 --> 00:05:48.900 Now you can move to a new neighborhood. 00:05:48.900 --> 00:05:49.900 You can choose. 00:05:49.900 --> 00:05:54.900 You and I have this beauty in where we live called choice. 00:05:54.900 --> 00:06:01.180 We can make a choice over who has authority over us. 00:06:01.180 --> 00:06:06.720 And I love this freedom. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:08.380 I love it. 00:06:08.380 --> 00:06:13.380 I love that I have choice in my life. 00:06:13.380 --> 00:06:19.660 But sometimes where our concept of American freedom 00:06:19.660 --> 00:06:26.220 begins to murky up the waters with us, 00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:31.220 theologically speaking, is we can approach God 00:06:31.220 --> 00:06:32.720 with this mindset as well. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:35.940 We can come before a holy God who is always good, 00:06:35.940 --> 00:06:39.180 who is always right, who is always just, 00:06:39.180 --> 00:06:43.300 who is the embodiment of love and wisdom, 00:06:43.300 --> 00:06:46.220 and go, nah, I know better. 00:06:46.220 --> 00:06:49.900 I know better. 00:06:49.900 --> 00:06:53.300 So it's been a minute since we've been in Genesis. 00:06:53.300 --> 00:06:57.660 Can't recap all of it or we'd be here 'til next Sunday. 00:06:57.660 --> 00:07:00.600 But very briefly, what we've seen in Genesis 29, 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:03.660 moving up in just a moment, we're gonna start in verse 31. 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:06.260 There's this guy named Jacob, and he ends up 00:07:06.260 --> 00:07:09.420 through some means that aren't necessarily 00:07:09.420 --> 00:07:10.620 the most noble, let's see. 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:13.980 He marries two sisters, all right? 00:07:13.980 --> 00:07:16.660 Tricked into this by his dad. 00:07:16.660 --> 00:07:18.860 These sisters were Leah and Rachel, 00:07:18.860 --> 00:07:21.760 and Jacob loved Rachel and there was resentment with Leah. 00:07:21.760 --> 00:07:23.820 Here's where we're gonna pick up. 00:07:23.820 --> 00:07:25.740 Chapter 29, verse 31, and we're gonna read 00:07:25.740 --> 00:07:27.820 through part of verse 30 as well. 00:07:27.820 --> 00:07:28.740 So we got a good bit of reading. 00:07:28.740 --> 00:07:31.220 So my glasses and my iPad screen 00:07:31.220 --> 00:07:33.180 are good enough for that, all right? 00:07:33.180 --> 00:07:34.020 See, I'll hang with me. 00:07:34.020 --> 00:07:37.260 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, 00:07:37.260 --> 00:07:41.400 he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 00:07:41.400 --> 00:07:45.260 And Leah conceived and bore a son, 00:07:45.260 --> 00:07:47.460 and she called his name Reuben. 00:07:47.460 --> 00:07:51.140 For she said, because the Lord has looked upon my affliction 00:07:51.140 --> 00:07:53.160 for now my husband will love me. 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:56.960 She conceived again and bore a son and said, 00:07:56.960 --> 00:07:59.780 because the Lord has heard that I am hated, 00:07:59.780 --> 00:08:03.040 he has given me this son also. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:04.640 And she called his name Simeon. 00:08:04.640 --> 00:08:07.860 And again she conceived and bore a son and said, 00:08:07.860 --> 00:08:10.540 now this time my husband will be attached to me 00:08:10.540 --> 00:08:13.300 because I have borne him three sons, 00:08:13.300 --> 00:08:15.260 therefore his name will be called Levi. 00:08:15.260 --> 00:08:19.720 She conceived again and bore a son and said, 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:22.380 this time I will praise the Lord, 00:08:22.380 --> 00:08:24.760 therefore she called his name Judah. 00:08:24.760 --> 00:08:26.160 Then she ceased bearing. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:31.780 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, 00:08:31.780 --> 00:08:33.180 she envied her sister. 00:08:33.180 --> 00:08:38.060 She said to Jacob, give me children or I shall die. 00:08:38.060 --> 00:08:41.780 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, 00:08:41.780 --> 00:08:44.820 and he said, am I in the place of God 00:08:44.820 --> 00:08:49.340 who has withheld you from the fruit of the womb? 00:08:49.340 --> 00:08:53.260 Then she said, here is my servant Bilhah. 00:08:53.260 --> 00:08:56.860 Go into her so that she may give birth on my behalf, 00:08:56.860 --> 00:09:00.100 that even I may have children through her. 00:09:01.020 --> 00:09:04.140 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, 00:09:04.140 --> 00:09:05.920 and Jacob went into her, 00:09:05.920 --> 00:09:09.540 and Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 00:09:09.540 --> 00:09:12.340 And then Rachel said, God has judged me 00:09:12.340 --> 00:09:15.820 and has also heard my voice and given me a son, 00:09:15.820 --> 00:09:18.100 therefore she called his name Dan. 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:20.100 And Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again 00:09:20.100 --> 00:09:23.020 and bore Jacob a second son. 00:09:23.020 --> 00:09:25.820 Then Rachel said, with mighty wrestlings 00:09:25.820 --> 00:09:29.180 I have wrestled with my sister and prevailed. 00:09:29.180 --> 00:09:31.800 So she called his name Natali. 00:09:31.800 --> 00:09:33.700 There's nine. 00:09:33.700 --> 00:09:37.200 Then Leah saw that she had cease bearing children. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:39.300 She took her servant, Zilpah, 00:09:39.300 --> 00:09:42.380 and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 00:09:42.380 --> 00:09:44.620 Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son, 00:09:44.620 --> 00:09:47.740 and Leah said, good fortune has come. 00:09:47.740 --> 00:09:49.620 So she called his name Gad. 00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:52.420 And Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, 00:09:52.420 --> 00:09:57.420 and Leah said, happy am I, for women have called me happy. 00:09:57.680 --> 00:09:59.640 So she called his name Asher. 00:09:59.640 --> 00:10:02.760 In the days of wheat harvest, 00:10:02.760 --> 00:10:05.380 Reuben went out and found mandrakes in the field 00:10:05.380 --> 00:10:07.840 and brought them to his mother Leah. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:09.000 And then Rachel said to Leah, 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:11.440 please give me some of your son's mandrakes. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.440 And so this is a root that was believed 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:16.040 to help with fertility, verse 15. 00:10:16.040 --> 00:10:17.860 But she said to her, it is a small matter 00:10:17.860 --> 00:10:19.720 that you have taken away my husband. 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:22.560 Why would you take away my son's mandrakes as well? 00:10:22.560 --> 00:10:25.400 And Rachel said, then he may lie with you tonight 00:10:25.400 --> 00:10:27.180 in exchange for your son's mandrakes. 00:10:27.180 --> 00:10:29.400 And Jacob came from the field in the evening, 00:10:29.400 --> 00:10:31.040 and Leah went out to meet him and said, 00:10:31.040 --> 00:10:32.840 you must come into me, 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:35.360 for I've hired you for my son's mandrakes. 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:37.160 So he lay with her that night, 00:10:37.160 --> 00:10:39.120 and God listened to Leah and conceived 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:41.480 and bore Jacob a fifth son. 00:10:41.480 --> 00:10:44.320 And Leah said, God has given me my wages 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:46.260 because I gave my servant to my husband, 00:10:46.260 --> 00:10:48.540 so she called his name Iscar. 00:10:48.540 --> 00:10:51.320 Verse 19, and Leah conceived again 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:53.120 and bore Jacob a sixth son, 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:56.960 and Leah said, God has endowed me with good endowment. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:58.720 Now my husband will honor me 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:00.960 because I've born him six sons. 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:03.040 So she called his name Zebulun. 00:11:03.040 --> 00:11:05.100 And afterwards she bore a daughter 00:11:05.100 --> 00:11:07.120 and called her name Dinah. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:08.740 And then God remembered Rachel, 00:11:08.740 --> 00:11:10.600 and God listened to her and opened her womb, 00:11:10.600 --> 00:11:12.580 and she conceived and bore a son, 00:11:12.580 --> 00:11:15.440 and said, God has taken away my reproach. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:18.180 And she called his name Joseph, 00:11:18.180 --> 00:11:23.180 saying, may the Lord add to me another son. 00:11:23.180 --> 00:11:26.140 We'll pause here for today. 00:11:26.140 --> 00:11:30.560 And this, my friends, is a tangled, dysfunctional mess 00:11:30.560 --> 00:11:33.240 that I don't even think TLC would choose 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:34.760 to make a show after, right? 00:11:34.760 --> 00:11:36.320 [audience laughs] 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:41.320 You see, one man, Jacob, two sisters, Rachel and Leah, 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:47.820 two servants, Zilphah and Bilhah, 12 sons, one daughter. 00:11:47.820 --> 00:11:53.640 To say this is complicated would be an understatement. 00:11:54.680 --> 00:11:59.680 But this is kind of the cycle of what we find humanity in 00:11:59.680 --> 00:12:07.400 as men and women choose to pursue their own way, 00:12:07.400 --> 00:12:09.920 their own purpose, their own reasoning, 00:12:09.920 --> 00:12:12.380 and find in the situations what we find. 00:12:12.380 --> 00:12:17.280 And the question that I wanna ask to you this morning 00:12:17.280 --> 00:12:19.960 based off of this, and to draw from the truth 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:21.480 of God's word is this. 00:12:21.480 --> 00:12:26.480 Who or what is the authority in your life? 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:35.520 The word that I wanna emphasize here is the word the. 00:12:35.520 --> 00:12:41.640 Who or what is the authority in your life? 00:12:41.640 --> 00:12:45.600 I'm not talking that you and I have created 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:48.200 a council of authorities. 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:51.920 But when you look at and you examine your way, 00:12:51.920 --> 00:12:56.800 your mindset, your perspective, your point of view, 00:12:56.800 --> 00:13:01.800 who or what is the authority that rises to the top? 00:13:01.800 --> 00:13:07.320 Who established or what establishes your worldview, 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:11.880 your ethics, your morality, your view on things 00:13:11.880 --> 00:13:15.960 like finances, on family, and all to reason of a topic 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:18.960 of what we referenced earlier of politics, 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:21.360 and then we continue on and on and on 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:28.440 of having the authority, the point of truth in your life. 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:33.680 Now, since we're gathered here in church, 00:13:33.680 --> 00:13:37.960 I think for most of us, not all of us, 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:40.480 and that's what's great about us gathering here, 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:43.080 but for many of us, if I were to sit down with you 00:13:43.080 --> 00:13:45.280 and I know you and you know me, 00:13:45.280 --> 00:13:48.000 and we were to talk and I would say this to you, 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.640 like, hey, who has this ultimate authority in your life? 00:13:52.640 --> 00:13:55.560 The easy answer for us is oftentimes 00:13:55.560 --> 00:13:57.160 the correct answer, God. 00:13:57.160 --> 00:14:01.960 And if that is your answer today, 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:05.040 if that's where you're at when I say that, 00:14:05.040 --> 00:14:09.080 there's kind of this duality in me that's happening. 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:14.080 My reaction to you is encouraging. 00:14:14.300 --> 00:14:18.120 It's to praise the Lord that this would be your answer, 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:22.640 but it's also to cautiously ask you to examine your heart 00:14:22.640 --> 00:14:24.640 to see, is this really true? 00:14:24.640 --> 00:14:29.060 As you and I wrestle with the decisions and the perspectives 00:14:29.060 --> 00:14:30.580 and the points that we make, 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:34.440 while the answer that may be in our mind to say 00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:38.160 is that God has the ultimate authority in our life, 00:14:38.160 --> 00:14:40.400 praise the Lord that that's our answer, 00:14:40.400 --> 00:14:43.320 but when we look to the application of that in our life, 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:44.720 is it true? 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:47.240 Is it true? 00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:56.320 In my opinion, people, when we look at our lives 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:00.840 and we recognize that there's this struggle 00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:04.960 with God actually being the ultimate authority in our life, 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:07.120 it happens for one of two reasons. 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:09.720 The first is what I would just simply call, 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:12.800 I'm like rebellion of the heart. 00:15:12.800 --> 00:15:16.920 For people who know, like they're admitting 00:15:16.920 --> 00:15:21.920 that there's a gap and a distance between me and God, right? 00:15:21.920 --> 00:15:29.640 And I choose my way over the way of God. 00:15:29.640 --> 00:15:33.240 People who would not say that they're followers of Christ, 00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:38.240 for people who not say that they have surrendered to God. 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:41.560 This rebellion of the heart, like I'm going to, 00:15:41.560 --> 00:15:45.240 I acknowledge, I choose, I know, 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:48.260 and I'm being honest with where I am 00:15:48.260 --> 00:15:49.440 in my pursuit in my life. 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:51.540 There's people with the rebellion of the heart, 00:15:51.540 --> 00:15:55.480 but then I think there's so many of us in here today, 00:15:55.480 --> 00:15:58.680 and just as that is sin, like this is sin as well, 00:15:58.680 --> 00:16:01.520 one of these is not holier than the other. 00:16:01.520 --> 00:16:06.680 There's many of us who are Christians, 00:16:06.680 --> 00:16:08.800 but what we struggle with in our heart 00:16:08.800 --> 00:16:13.800 is what I would call control issues of the heart, right? 00:16:13.800 --> 00:16:18.960 We love God, we love Christ, we worship Him, 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:25.240 we're dependent on the work of the Holy Spirit in our life, 00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:31.160 but yet there's just some aspects of our life 00:16:31.160 --> 00:16:34.740 that we feel like we would be better of holding on to. 00:16:34.740 --> 00:16:38.000 We want to hold on to our way, our understanding, 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:40.000 our process. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:42.840 We know and we trust. 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:47.840 It's the picture of one foot in and one foot out 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:51.880 of what we see and what we find. 00:16:51.880 --> 00:16:55.680 And I think as we work through a lot of this, 00:16:55.680 --> 00:16:58.320 if we work through this passage, 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:03.320 we can see this struggle, what's there of God's people then 00:17:03.320 --> 00:17:05.440 and what's of God's people today, 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.160 entrusting the authority of God. 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:08.480 It's the rebellion of the heart, 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:10.800 but even those so many times who say, 00:17:10.800 --> 00:17:14.520 but I want to love and pursue and submit 00:17:14.520 --> 00:17:16.380 to the God of the Bible, 00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:19.160 there's still some control issues as well. 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:20.500 So this morning, back to our question, 00:17:20.500 --> 00:17:23.900 who or what is the authority in your life? 00:17:23.900 --> 00:17:26.560 I want to ask you three questions that I believe 00:17:26.560 --> 00:17:29.080 will help you answer that question 00:17:29.080 --> 00:17:31.600 by looking at the passage of what we see today. 00:17:31.600 --> 00:17:33.720 And the first question is this, 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:35.840 do you trust the full truth of God's word? 00:17:37.040 --> 00:17:40.000 Do you trust the full truth of God's word? 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.360 From Genesis to Revelation. 00:17:42.360 --> 00:17:45.640 We were having in our discipleship time this morning, 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:46.680 the group that I meet with, 00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:48.860 we're talking through the theology of the Holy Scripture, 00:17:48.860 --> 00:17:50.720 who the Holy Scripture is, how he works, 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:53.880 how he moves, the person of the Holy Spirit, 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:55.660 the deity of the Holy Spirit, 00:17:55.660 --> 00:17:57.120 all those things, working through that. 00:17:57.120 --> 00:17:59.320 And what we were talking about is like when we begin 00:17:59.320 --> 00:18:02.600 to sample out bits and pieces of truth 00:18:02.600 --> 00:18:04.920 that we want to agree with, that we want to disagree with, 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:07.240 that we want to remove, what we end up creating 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:09.700 is a foundation that will never stand. 00:18:09.700 --> 00:18:15.440 So do you trust the full truth of God's word? 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:20.680 As what we see in the life of what is playing out here 00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:25.040 in Genesis 29 with Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, Bilhah, 00:18:25.040 --> 00:18:30.040 it is strange to us as Americans in 2024. 00:18:31.320 --> 00:18:36.320 That's a different scenario that we just read. 00:18:36.320 --> 00:18:41.240 Definitely not mainstream, not a mainstream lifestyle 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:43.000 that we see commonly. 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:47.260 There are, polygamy is a part in the world today, 00:18:47.260 --> 00:18:49.040 but not common. 00:18:49.040 --> 00:18:52.520 However, these choices that they are making 00:18:52.520 --> 00:18:57.520 were very common choices to be made in their day. 00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:01.800 And they fell into the cultural norms 00:19:01.800 --> 00:19:05.140 of their society at the time. 00:19:05.140 --> 00:19:10.240 One man with multiple wives, multiple children 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:14.440 from those wives would be something that we will see, 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:17.640 have seen in Genesis, will see throughout the Old Testament. 00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:21.520 And while not overly talked about in the New Testament, 00:19:21.520 --> 00:19:24.160 culturally speaking, was still happening 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.600 during the time of Christ and the apostles, 00:19:26.600 --> 00:19:28.640 and not happening with fringe groups, 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:31.280 but happening in the culture in which they lived 00:19:31.280 --> 00:19:33.120 in that day. 00:19:33.120 --> 00:19:36.840 And we will see in God's word, men and women 00:19:36.840 --> 00:19:41.840 who love God fall into polygamy as the acceptable culture 00:19:41.840 --> 00:19:45.560 and custom of their day and practice. 00:19:45.560 --> 00:19:49.480 And while during that time it was practice, 00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:52.160 it was never the truth of God's word 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:54.560 and the desire of the heart of God. 00:19:55.760 --> 00:19:57.400 All the way back to the back, Genesis chapter two, 00:19:57.400 --> 00:20:01.840 therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother 00:20:01.840 --> 00:20:06.080 and hold fast to his wife singularly. 00:20:06.080 --> 00:20:13.140 And they shall become one flesh. 00:20:13.140 --> 00:20:19.160 So do you trust in God's word? 00:20:19.160 --> 00:20:20.360 Sure, man. 00:20:20.360 --> 00:20:25.440 All the ladies in here, like I don't think so. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:27.720 I don't think so. 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:31.440 And all the guys in here, I don't think so. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:32.280 I don't think so. 00:20:32.280 --> 00:20:35.660 This is not the pursuit of what we have. 00:20:35.660 --> 00:20:41.620 But while today, polygamy may not be the rebellious practice 00:20:41.620 --> 00:20:47.880 of others who follow Christ, what we see today 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:53.040 are there are many, many, many decisions 00:20:53.040 --> 00:20:57.720 that we have taken as people who follow Christ 00:20:57.720 --> 00:21:02.000 and morphed with it the cultures and customs 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:05.840 and the practices of this world that are far from him 00:21:05.840 --> 00:21:08.540 as we try to keep one foot in and one foot out. 00:21:08.540 --> 00:21:12.040 God's got a plan for your finances. 00:21:12.040 --> 00:21:17.720 Are you willing to trust him as a sacrificial giver 00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:21.300 and as obedient with all that he's left to entrust you with? 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:24.240 The world says that's yours. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:26.800 God says, no, no, no, it's mine 00:21:26.800 --> 00:21:28.280 that I've entrusted you with. 00:21:28.280 --> 00:21:31.740 When we look at forgiveness, right? 00:21:31.740 --> 00:21:35.280 Oh man, this might be like the sneaky one 00:21:35.280 --> 00:21:36.640 for us as Christians. 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:42.520 Right, our culture says you and I, 00:21:42.520 --> 00:21:46.520 this is the only place in this topic 00:21:46.520 --> 00:21:48.560 where you get to be the judge. 00:21:49.520 --> 00:21:54.520 You get to decide if you do or do not extend forgiveness. 00:21:54.520 --> 00:22:02.520 But the Bible says that we're to forgive continuously 00:22:02.520 --> 00:22:07.400 and to forgive, wait a minute, as we've been forgiven. 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:15.480 Sex and marriage, hadn't changed, hadn't changed. 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:18.680 Hadn't changed, hadn't changed. 00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:22.280 The establishment of what God said. 00:22:22.280 --> 00:22:24.880 This isn't something to sample, 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:26.400 this isn't something to try, 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:28.080 this isn't something to redefine, 00:22:28.080 --> 00:22:29.760 this isn't something to practice, 00:22:29.760 --> 00:22:33.160 this isn't a coming into manhood or coming into womanhood. 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:34.400 These aren't the phases of things 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:35.600 that we begin to think through. 00:22:35.600 --> 00:22:37.000 God says, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:38.660 here's what we got, we got one man, 00:22:38.660 --> 00:22:41.240 we've got one wife, one man, one woman, 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:44.120 they become united, this is who they are. 00:22:44.120 --> 00:22:46.880 This is not something they practiced before, 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:48.640 but this is something that they do together 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:51.000 and it's a beautiful picture as two become one 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:54.040 in the unity of who they are in Christ. 00:22:54.040 --> 00:22:57.580 We look at the sanctity of life, 00:22:57.580 --> 00:23:01.180 we look at all of God's creation, 00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:05.200 we look at men, we look at women, 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:07.780 we look at kids, we look at babies, 00:23:07.780 --> 00:23:11.640 we look at people of different races, 00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:13.640 of different cultures, 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:17.080 of different socioeconomic backgrounds, 00:23:17.080 --> 00:23:20.960 and we, we as believers, 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:24.760 draw the border and the umbrella 00:23:24.760 --> 00:23:28.240 that we've all been made in the image of God. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:34.280 And that we respect and value and treasure all life. 00:23:34.280 --> 00:23:38.240 Relationships with enemies, you're like, 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:39.200 whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:42.480 my relationship is defined because they are my enemy, right? 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:45.200 But yet God's word tells us to pray 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:46.600 for those who persecute you. 00:23:46.600 --> 00:23:49.520 That we're to look to do them good. 00:23:49.520 --> 00:23:52.600 Not to pay them back, not to ignore them, 00:23:52.600 --> 00:23:55.480 but to serve them in who we are. 00:23:55.480 --> 00:23:57.320 But when he talks about favoritism, 00:23:57.320 --> 00:24:02.320 the list could go on and on and on and on. 00:24:02.320 --> 00:24:04.500 Here's the question that I have for you, 00:24:04.500 --> 00:24:09.260 if you say that God is the authority of your life, 00:24:09.260 --> 00:24:13.820 then in your life is God's standard your standard? 00:24:13.820 --> 00:24:16.500 Is it your standard? 00:24:16.500 --> 00:24:23.160 Not some hybrid version of what Bo and God can agree on, 00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:27.900 but the version of what God says. 00:24:27.900 --> 00:24:31.620 And when you fail, when you fail, 00:24:31.620 --> 00:24:34.660 when you fall short, when it doesn't happen, 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:37.420 and it happens for me continually, 00:24:37.420 --> 00:24:42.480 do we fall in God's standard of grace, 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:44.580 in God's standard of confession, 00:24:44.580 --> 00:24:46.420 in God's standard of repentance, 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:48.780 in God's standard of dependence on him 00:24:48.780 --> 00:24:52.780 and obedience to who he's called us to be, right? 00:24:52.780 --> 00:24:57.780 We see this situation begin to happen and unfold. 00:24:57.860 --> 00:25:02.740 And I feel like I told people in my men's group, 00:25:02.740 --> 00:25:05.700 I know I said this at my house as well, 00:25:05.700 --> 00:25:08.500 it's like we just kind of preach until we stop 00:25:08.500 --> 00:25:10.300 and then we pick up back there next time. 00:25:10.300 --> 00:25:11.300 And I'll be honest with you, 00:25:11.300 --> 00:25:13.660 I'd kind of forgotten where we were, 00:25:13.660 --> 00:25:15.620 and then this week I picked it back up 00:25:15.620 --> 00:25:17.740 and I was like, oh yeah, all right, 00:25:17.740 --> 00:25:20.180 like, hmm, here's where we're at. 00:25:20.180 --> 00:25:24.380 This one's gonna be interesting, you know? 00:25:24.380 --> 00:25:29.380 They're just following the culture. 00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:32.380 They're just following the custom. 00:25:32.380 --> 00:25:38.540 Two sisters, two women, the mess of what it creates. 00:25:38.540 --> 00:25:44.060 The second thing is this, second question, 00:25:44.060 --> 00:25:46.340 who has authority in your life? 00:25:46.340 --> 00:25:48.140 Do you trust that God defines you? 00:25:48.140 --> 00:25:50.960 Do you trust that God defines you? 00:25:52.520 --> 00:25:55.360 With Rachel and Leah especially in here, 00:25:55.360 --> 00:25:59.960 there seems to be a lot of them desiring 00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:04.960 to find who they are in multiple places in this story. 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:11.920 They find their identity in how they are viewed 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:14.480 ultimately by their husband. 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:20.040 They find their identity about if they are 00:26:20.040 --> 00:26:23.200 or are not capable of having children 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:25.280 and what that means. 00:26:25.280 --> 00:26:27.240 They find their identity, 00:26:27.240 --> 00:26:33.840 they attempt to find their identity in a man and in kids. 00:26:33.840 --> 00:26:37.500 Now, a couple things. 00:26:37.500 --> 00:26:44.000 Children are a huge blessing from the Lord 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:45.320 and we praise God for 'em. 00:26:46.600 --> 00:26:51.600 Two, your spouse, your spouse is a huge blessing 00:26:51.600 --> 00:26:57.400 and you should praise God for them. 00:26:57.400 --> 00:27:01.240 Daily, daily I pray for my wife and for my kids. 00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:05.540 Not just that they will do what God has for them 00:27:05.540 --> 00:27:09.260 in that day while I do, I also praise God 00:27:09.260 --> 00:27:13.660 and thank God for the huge blessing that Aaron is, 00:27:13.660 --> 00:27:16.440 that Emma is, and that Grayson is in my life 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:19.840 and they are a wonderful gift from God. 00:27:19.840 --> 00:27:24.840 But here's the thing, kids and spouses make crummy gods. 00:27:24.840 --> 00:27:29.860 They make crummy gods. 00:27:29.860 --> 00:27:35.600 My identity while Aaron is a blessing is not found in her. 00:27:35.600 --> 00:27:42.200 My identity while a blessing that Emma and Grayson are 00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:45.780 is not found in them. 00:27:46.620 --> 00:27:51.500 Do you trust God that defines you? 00:27:51.500 --> 00:27:55.820 Or does something else? 00:27:55.820 --> 00:28:02.420 I said who or what is the authority in your life? 00:28:02.420 --> 00:28:06.200 Is it your spouse? 00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:07.700 Is it your kids? 00:28:07.700 --> 00:28:08.980 Is it your job? 00:28:08.980 --> 00:28:10.580 Is it your finances? 00:28:10.580 --> 00:28:11.980 Is it your achievements? 00:28:11.980 --> 00:28:13.260 Is it your intellect? 00:28:13.260 --> 00:28:14.500 Is it your career? 00:28:14.500 --> 00:28:16.980 Is it your physical attributes? 00:28:16.980 --> 00:28:20.060 Here are the problems with all of these things, 00:28:20.060 --> 00:28:23.460 these people, these mindsets, these achievements, 00:28:23.460 --> 00:28:27.820 is the problem with all of these is we choose these 00:28:27.820 --> 00:28:31.540 continually to ultimately define who they are. 00:28:31.540 --> 00:28:35.500 The only issue with this is they will end. 00:28:35.500 --> 00:28:37.340 They will end. 00:28:37.340 --> 00:28:41.220 So in Christ what we have is a new identity. 00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:43.620 He defines us. 00:28:43.620 --> 00:28:48.340 He defines who we are for now and for eternity. 00:28:48.340 --> 00:28:51.460 For eternity, 1 Corinthians 5, 16 through 21. 00:28:51.460 --> 00:28:54.660 "From now on, therefore, we regard no one 00:28:54.660 --> 00:28:56.060 "according to the flesh. 00:28:56.060 --> 00:28:59.040 "Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, 00:28:59.040 --> 00:29:00.680 "we regard him thus no longer. 00:29:00.680 --> 00:29:05.680 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:08.220 "The old has passed away. 00:29:08.220 --> 00:29:10.020 "Behold, the new has come. 00:29:10.020 --> 00:29:13.300 "All this is from God who through Christ 00:29:13.300 --> 00:29:15.500 "reconciled us to himself 00:29:15.500 --> 00:29:18.660 "and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 00:29:18.660 --> 00:29:21.360 "That is, in Christ God was reconciling 00:29:21.360 --> 00:29:22.920 "the world to himself, 00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:25.660 "not counting their trespasses against him 00:29:25.660 --> 00:29:29.740 "and untrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 00:29:29.740 --> 00:29:32.680 "Therefore, we are ambassadors for God, 00:29:32.680 --> 00:29:35.100 "God making his appeal through us. 00:29:35.100 --> 00:29:37.460 "We implore you on behalf of Christ, 00:29:37.460 --> 00:29:41.360 "be reconciled to God, for our sake he made him to be sin 00:29:41.360 --> 00:29:43.720 "who knew no sin, so that in him 00:29:43.720 --> 00:29:47.660 "we might become the righteousness of God." 00:29:47.660 --> 00:29:49.780 He defines you. 00:29:49.780 --> 00:29:51.780 He defines you. 00:29:51.780 --> 00:29:54.900 And in him, you're a new creation. 00:29:54.900 --> 00:29:56.920 The old has gone. 00:29:56.920 --> 00:30:01.480 Your past, your failures, your sin does not define you. 00:30:03.540 --> 00:30:06.980 He defines you. 00:30:06.980 --> 00:30:09.240 The old is gone, the new has come. 00:30:09.240 --> 00:30:12.480 He reconciled us. 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:18.860 The gap that was created, the valley that was there, 00:30:18.860 --> 00:30:21.300 the debt that we could not pay, 00:30:21.300 --> 00:30:25.060 the overcoming that we were not capable of doing, 00:30:25.060 --> 00:30:26.460 Christ did. 00:30:26.460 --> 00:30:27.860 We created it. 00:30:27.860 --> 00:30:31.660 Christ reconciled us with God. 00:30:32.660 --> 00:30:37.660 And then he entrusted us with a message. 00:30:37.660 --> 00:30:42.380 A message for pastors, a message for teachers, 00:30:42.380 --> 00:30:44.700 a message for students, a message for doctors, 00:30:44.700 --> 00:30:46.260 a message for stay-at-home parents, 00:30:46.260 --> 00:30:49.620 a message for people who retired, a message for everyone. 00:30:49.620 --> 00:30:55.360 And he created within us and called us 00:30:55.360 --> 00:30:58.820 to be people of hope, so that in who I am 00:30:58.820 --> 00:31:00.540 and where God has placed me 00:31:00.540 --> 00:31:02.740 and what God has entrusted me with 00:31:02.740 --> 00:31:04.740 and what God has gifted me to do 00:31:04.740 --> 00:31:06.820 and what God has called me to be, 00:31:06.820 --> 00:31:09.100 wherever I find myself with my finances, 00:31:09.100 --> 00:31:12.620 wherever I find myself with my levels of intelligence, 00:31:12.620 --> 00:31:14.980 wherever I find myself in social standing, 00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:16.580 wherever I find myself in a country, 00:31:16.580 --> 00:31:20.140 whatever gender that God gives to me at birth, 00:31:20.140 --> 00:31:21.980 wherever I find myself in this, 00:31:21.980 --> 00:31:24.700 that God has called and created for me 00:31:24.700 --> 00:31:26.180 to be a person of hope. 00:31:26.180 --> 00:31:28.940 And that's who I am. 00:31:28.940 --> 00:31:31.940 [audience laughing] 00:31:31.940 --> 00:31:37.820 Not angry with her sister, 00:31:37.820 --> 00:31:42.020 longing for the approval of man, 00:31:42.020 --> 00:31:48.420 desiring the competition of the pursuits of the flesh. 00:31:48.420 --> 00:31:50.980 Last question this morning. 00:31:50.980 --> 00:31:57.460 Do you trust God is working in all things? 00:31:58.660 --> 00:32:03.660 Do you trust that God is working in all things? 00:32:03.660 --> 00:32:10.340 All right, let's go back to this debate. 00:32:10.340 --> 00:32:14.420 Debate's gonna happen. 00:32:14.420 --> 00:32:17.820 Everybody's gonna yell at each other. 00:32:17.820 --> 00:32:21.880 One news station will say this person won. 00:32:21.880 --> 00:32:26.540 Another news station will say that this person won. 00:32:26.540 --> 00:32:30.660 Everybody will flood social media again, right? 00:32:30.660 --> 00:32:33.660 And then there's gonna come a day 00:32:33.660 --> 00:32:35.740 we'll have an election. 00:32:35.740 --> 00:32:40.980 And everyone in this room will either like the outcome 00:32:40.980 --> 00:32:42.220 or not like the outcome. 00:32:42.220 --> 00:32:49.680 But the hope that we have is before the election, 00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:52.180 on the election, and after the election, guess what? 00:32:52.180 --> 00:32:53.680 Christ is still on his throne. 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:56.340 He's still on the throne. 00:32:57.340 --> 00:32:59.820 He's on the throne when George Washington was president. 00:32:59.820 --> 00:33:02.540 He was on the throne when Abraham Lincoln was president. 00:33:02.540 --> 00:33:05.580 He was on the throne when Ronald Reagan was president. 00:33:05.580 --> 00:33:08.860 He was on the throne when Barack Obama was president. 00:33:08.860 --> 00:33:09.900 He's on the throne. 00:33:09.900 --> 00:33:13.340 And that God is bigger. 00:33:13.340 --> 00:33:17.260 I know this is hard for my mind to wrap around, 00:33:17.260 --> 00:33:20.940 but God is bigger than anything you and I 00:33:20.940 --> 00:33:24.020 could ever possibly imagine. 00:33:24.020 --> 00:33:25.180 He's bigger than it. 00:33:25.180 --> 00:33:26.660 He's more powerful than it. 00:33:26.660 --> 00:33:28.020 He's stronger than it. 00:33:28.020 --> 00:33:29.440 He's greater than it. 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:33.860 And I think you and I, we know that. 00:33:33.860 --> 00:33:35.700 We know that. 00:33:35.700 --> 00:33:38.300 If I said to you, do you know that God is working 00:33:38.300 --> 00:33:41.340 in all things, I believe your answer would be yes. 00:33:41.340 --> 00:33:42.980 If I were to say to you this morning, 00:33:42.980 --> 00:33:46.140 but do you trust that God is working in all things, 00:33:46.140 --> 00:33:50.740 I don't know that you'd have the same answer. 00:33:50.740 --> 00:33:55.740 Romans 8, 28, and we know that for those who love God, 00:33:55.740 --> 00:34:01.780 get these two words, all things, 00:34:01.780 --> 00:34:04.860 all things work together for good. 00:34:04.860 --> 00:34:09.340 For those who are called according to his purpose. 00:34:09.340 --> 00:34:11.700 Let's be honest, this story's a mess. 00:34:11.700 --> 00:34:13.840 This story's a mess, but let's also be honest. 00:34:13.840 --> 00:34:14.960 So is your story. 00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:18.300 And guess what? 00:34:18.300 --> 00:34:19.740 So is mine. 00:34:20.580 --> 00:34:23.140 It's a wreck. 00:34:23.140 --> 00:34:28.580 It's lies, it's deception, it's lust, 00:34:28.580 --> 00:34:31.460 it's greed, it's hatred. 00:34:31.460 --> 00:34:32.840 That's my story. 00:34:32.840 --> 00:34:38.100 But in my story, there's a but God. 00:34:38.100 --> 00:34:44.180 In my story, there's this moment where God says, 00:34:44.180 --> 00:34:48.900 hey, but, man, you're mine and I'm yours. 00:34:49.900 --> 00:34:54.900 And what happens in this, what Paul's speaking of 00:34:54.900 --> 00:34:57.900 in the truth of Romans 8, 28, 00:34:57.900 --> 00:35:03.780 is that when you love him, he takes your mess 00:35:03.780 --> 00:35:07.460 and he makes it a part of his story. 00:35:07.460 --> 00:35:13.300 And he uses it, he uses it, every bit of it. 00:35:16.620 --> 00:35:19.660 God is always faithful to do what he says. 00:35:19.660 --> 00:35:23.260 God is always faithful to fulfill his promises. 00:35:23.260 --> 00:35:27.380 All the way back, man, God takes one man, 00:35:27.380 --> 00:35:28.500 he takes Abraham. 00:35:28.500 --> 00:35:32.920 We saw this at the very beginning, long time ago. 00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:39.040 Actually, a man named Abram, a pagan man from a pagan land, 00:35:39.040 --> 00:35:43.500 and he called him to be obedient to Go, 00:35:44.860 --> 00:35:49.340 and that God would create from his lineage 00:35:49.340 --> 00:35:54.340 a great nation where all of mankind would be blessed. 00:35:54.340 --> 00:35:58.020 That's what we saw. 00:35:58.020 --> 00:36:01.540 And then God's gonna take one man, 00:36:01.540 --> 00:36:03.860 and this man that we just read, 00:36:03.860 --> 00:36:06.620 about in 29 and 30, 00:36:06.620 --> 00:36:13.140 and in Genesis 35, we'll see this in a few weeks, 00:36:13.140 --> 00:36:16.340 Genesis 35, he says, "You're no longer Jacob, 00:36:16.340 --> 00:36:19.740 "you're Israel, you're Israel." 00:36:19.740 --> 00:36:24.180 And then God takes this mess, this mess of 11 sons, 00:36:24.180 --> 00:36:25.600 he's gonna add one more, 00:36:25.600 --> 00:36:30.280 and we see the 12 tribes of Israel. 00:36:30.280 --> 00:36:35.580 And from these tribes, we're gonna see John the Baptist, 00:36:35.580 --> 00:36:39.700 lineage of Levi, we'll see the apostle Paul from Benjamin, 00:36:39.700 --> 00:36:44.060 and then there's this man named Jesus 00:36:44.060 --> 00:36:47.140 from the tribe of Judah. 00:36:47.140 --> 00:36:51.060 And God takes a mess, and he makes it a miracle, 00:36:51.060 --> 00:36:54.700 and he uses it for his name and for our good. 00:36:54.700 --> 00:36:56.500 And you're like, "Bo, I get it, though, 00:36:56.500 --> 00:37:00.340 "but this is like biblical messes of what God's doing, 00:37:00.340 --> 00:37:02.820 "and how God's working, and what God's doing." 00:37:02.820 --> 00:37:05.120 But Bo, that's not my life, that's not my journey, 00:37:05.120 --> 00:37:05.960 that's not where I'm at. 00:37:05.960 --> 00:37:07.620 But let me tell you what God does. 00:37:07.620 --> 00:37:10.820 God takes addicts and makes them pastors. 00:37:10.820 --> 00:37:14.940 He takes adulterers and makes them marriage counselors. 00:37:14.940 --> 00:37:17.980 He takes liars and makes them people of truth. 00:37:17.980 --> 00:37:21.060 He takes thieves and makes them generous, 00:37:21.060 --> 00:37:23.660 not because they've changed their mind, 00:37:23.660 --> 00:37:28.620 but because a holy God changed their heart. 00:37:28.620 --> 00:37:33.620 If you're here this morning, if you can hear my words, 00:37:33.620 --> 00:37:37.140 if you've ignored everything else that I say, 00:37:37.140 --> 00:37:38.620 I want you to hear these two things. 00:37:38.620 --> 00:37:41.420 God's grace is greater than your sin. 00:37:41.420 --> 00:37:45.220 God's grace is greater than your sin. 00:37:45.220 --> 00:37:48.100 You're like, "Not me, not me, not me." 00:37:48.100 --> 00:37:51.580 Trust me, I'm the poster child of not me. 00:37:51.580 --> 00:37:54.600 And God's grace is greater than your sin. 00:37:54.600 --> 00:37:57.980 And the second thing is this. 00:37:57.980 --> 00:38:01.260 God's plan is greater than your sin. 00:38:01.260 --> 00:38:04.900 God's plan is greater than your sin. 00:38:06.020 --> 00:38:08.780 God's not waking up in the morning 00:38:08.780 --> 00:38:11.620 hoping you and I are gonna get it all right 00:38:11.620 --> 00:38:13.860 so that his plan will work. 00:38:13.860 --> 00:38:16.060 God's so big and God's so great, 00:38:16.060 --> 00:38:18.140 when we mess up all of the things 00:38:18.140 --> 00:38:20.580 that we're gonna mess up, what the Bible tells us 00:38:20.580 --> 00:38:23.500 is that for all of us who love and trust him, 00:38:23.500 --> 00:38:25.060 he's like, "All right, here we go. 00:38:25.060 --> 00:38:27.260 "This is what you're doing, but this is what I'm doing." 00:38:27.260 --> 00:38:28.100 'Cause guess what? 00:38:28.100 --> 00:38:29.060 God didn't wake up. 00:38:29.060 --> 00:38:30.420 God doesn't clock in. 00:38:30.420 --> 00:38:31.700 God doesn't go to work. 00:38:31.700 --> 00:38:33.100 God's constantly working. 00:38:33.100 --> 00:38:34.460 God's constantly moving. 00:38:34.460 --> 00:38:35.380 God's not in the past. 00:38:35.380 --> 00:38:36.220 God's not in the present. 00:38:36.220 --> 00:38:37.140 God's not in the future. 00:38:37.140 --> 00:38:39.300 God always is and always will be. 00:38:39.300 --> 00:38:40.740 God's not pausing for a minute. 00:38:40.740 --> 00:38:42.180 God doesn't need a day off. 00:38:42.180 --> 00:38:45.420 God is working and moving in all of the things 00:38:45.420 --> 00:38:48.940 that you and I are messing up continually 00:38:48.940 --> 00:38:50.740 in the sin that it is in your life, 00:38:50.740 --> 00:38:52.300 in the sin that is in my life, 00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:53.820 in the plans that we wreck. 00:38:53.820 --> 00:38:56.460 God's like, "I got it. 00:38:56.460 --> 00:38:57.820 "I got it. 00:38:57.820 --> 00:38:59.740 "I got it." 00:38:59.740 --> 00:39:03.700 That's who God is. 00:39:03.700 --> 00:39:07.300 Sovereign over Genesis 29 00:39:07.300 --> 00:39:11.220 and sovereign over your and my life today. 00:39:11.220 --> 00:39:14.660 God is greater. 00:39:14.660 --> 00:39:18.020 So I'm gonna ask you the question again. 00:39:18.020 --> 00:39:20.380 Who is your authority? 00:39:20.380 --> 00:39:22.620 Who is your authority? 00:39:22.620 --> 00:39:26.860 Do you trust the truth of God's word? 00:39:26.860 --> 00:39:31.420 Do you trust that God defines you? 00:39:32.940 --> 00:39:37.940 And do you trust that God is working in all things? 00:39:37.940 --> 00:39:41.420 Today, my prayer for you, 00:39:41.420 --> 00:39:44.940 if you don't know Christ, 00:39:44.940 --> 00:39:49.620 if you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, 00:39:49.620 --> 00:39:51.540 today that you trust to follow him. 00:39:51.540 --> 00:39:55.540 You may not know and you may not understand 00:39:55.540 --> 00:39:56.740 what that looks like, 00:39:56.740 --> 00:40:00.500 but today that you would make the decision 00:40:00.500 --> 00:40:03.140 to submit yourself to trust him 00:40:03.140 --> 00:40:04.860 as Lord and Savior of your life, 00:40:04.860 --> 00:40:07.500 to break from your rebellious heart 00:40:07.500 --> 00:40:10.300 and ask him to give you a new heart. 00:40:10.300 --> 00:40:15.180 And today, you're like me. 00:40:15.180 --> 00:40:18.660 I mean, this whole week was a get kicked in the teeth 00:40:18.660 --> 00:40:23.540 evaluation and seeing in my own life 00:40:23.540 --> 00:40:26.020 where I wanna keep one foot in one 00:40:26.020 --> 00:40:28.180 and one foot in the other. 00:40:28.180 --> 00:40:29.980 And here's what God says, man, like, 00:40:30.260 --> 00:40:31.220 (chuckles) 00:40:31.220 --> 00:40:33.420 keep one leg in the wreck if you want to 00:40:33.420 --> 00:40:34.940 or you can come over here and stand 00:40:34.940 --> 00:40:36.380 in the goodness of who I am. 00:40:36.380 --> 00:40:41.260 And that today, you'd make the choice to stand 00:40:41.260 --> 00:40:46.020 in the goodness of God, in the truth of who he is, 00:40:46.020 --> 00:40:48.620 in the purpose and plan that he has for you 00:40:48.620 --> 00:40:53.300 and do it all with praise and adoration for him. 00:40:53.300 --> 00:40:54.460 Would you pray with me? 00:40:59.260 --> 00:41:00.140 (exhales) 00:41:00.140 --> 00:41:03.740 God, I thank you for the messy truth of your word. 00:41:03.740 --> 00:41:07.300 God, it is so encouraging 00:41:07.300 --> 00:41:11.060 that when we open your word, God, 00:41:11.060 --> 00:41:15.340 it's not filled with men and women 00:41:15.340 --> 00:41:18.100 who are just always crushing it 00:41:18.100 --> 00:41:21.300 in their falling of you, 00:41:21.300 --> 00:41:27.500 that they fall into paths of sin 00:41:27.780 --> 00:41:31.020 and rebellion and disobedience. 00:41:31.020 --> 00:41:38.500 And God, as their story, as their story changes, 00:41:38.500 --> 00:41:42.180 what we find in you is that you don't. 00:41:42.180 --> 00:41:47.980 And that God, what is waiting for them in those moments? 00:41:47.980 --> 00:41:50.460 What is the grace that you have for them? 00:41:50.460 --> 00:41:54.340 The relationship that you desire with them? 00:41:55.340 --> 00:41:57.900 The work that you're doing in their life? 00:41:57.900 --> 00:42:02.100 And the purpose that you've laid out before them? 00:42:02.100 --> 00:42:03.140 God, I thank you. 00:42:03.140 --> 00:42:07.340 God, I thank you that just as you were working and moving 00:42:07.340 --> 00:42:14.740 in the cultural, sinful mess of what we see 00:42:14.740 --> 00:42:18.420 in Genesis 29 and 30, 00:42:18.420 --> 00:42:21.820 that you were working it for a greater good. 00:42:22.260 --> 00:42:24.840 (gentle music) 00:42:24.840 --> 00:42:28.420 God, I pray for everyone here. 00:42:28.420 --> 00:42:33.060 Are there things that are going on in our lives 00:42:33.060 --> 00:42:35.420 that we don't understand? 00:42:35.420 --> 00:42:39.180 We don't know, we don't know what the outcome will be. 00:42:39.180 --> 00:42:42.140 We don't understand the point of it. 00:42:42.140 --> 00:42:45.500 But God, may you reassure our hearts 00:42:45.500 --> 00:42:48.420 for the truth of Romans 8:28. 00:42:48.420 --> 00:42:51.940 For God, you are working in those who love you, 00:42:51.940 --> 00:42:54.420 all things, all things. 00:42:54.420 --> 00:42:57.820 And so God, we can trust in that. 00:42:57.820 --> 00:43:01.780 God, through the power of your spirit, 00:43:01.780 --> 00:43:04.980 would you convict our heart? 00:43:04.980 --> 00:43:09.380 Lord, in the areas where we are trusting in ourselves, 00:43:09.380 --> 00:43:11.500 in this world, in this culture for things, 00:43:11.500 --> 00:43:13.340 and you're saying, "You've gotta trust me. 00:43:13.340 --> 00:43:14.900 "You've gotta walk by me. 00:43:14.900 --> 00:43:18.380 "Be obedient to me." 00:43:19.380 --> 00:43:21.900 And God, would we turn those over to you? 00:43:21.900 --> 00:43:25.860 And God, I pray that if there's anyone in here 00:43:25.860 --> 00:43:29.900 doesn't know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, 00:43:29.900 --> 00:43:34.540 that today would be the day. 00:43:34.540 --> 00:43:38.100 First Corinthians 5, 17, 00:43:38.100 --> 00:43:41.540 would ring true in their life. 00:43:41.540 --> 00:43:44.580 That today would be the day 00:43:45.540 --> 00:43:48.620 that their faith, their hope, their trust in you. 00:43:48.620 --> 00:43:53.140 And in that, the old is passed away. 00:43:53.140 --> 00:43:55.940 Behold, the new has come. 00:43:55.940 --> 00:44:01.460 Is there a new creation in you and in you alone? 00:44:01.460 --> 00:44:05.460 God, thank you for your love for us. 00:44:05.460 --> 00:44:09.340 Thank you for your patience with us. 00:44:09.340 --> 00:44:15.020 God, continue to guide us, continue to direct us, 00:44:15.020 --> 00:44:17.660 continue to lead us to follow you. 00:44:17.660 --> 00:44:21.060 It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 00:44:23.640 --> 00:44:26.740 - Thanks again for listening, 00:44:26.740 --> 00:44:29.860 and be sure to check back next week for another episode. 00:44:29.860 --> 00:44:33.580 In the meantime, you can visit us at willowridgechurch.org 00:44:33.580 --> 00:44:35.500 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church 00:44:35.500 --> 00:44:37.100 on Facebook, Instagram.